Abstract/Description

In the past 38 years, Lake Chad has shrunk by 95%. A gradual decline in rainfall since the 1960s and increased water use, especially for irrigation, has led to the decrease. The 1980s marked the construction of internationally financed irrigation...

Notes

In the past 38 years, Lake Chad has shrunk by 95%. A gradual decline in rainfall since the 1960s and increased water use, especially for irrigation, has led to the decrease. The 1980s marked the construction of internationally financed irrigation schemes that diverted water from the Chari and Logone rivers, which carry 90% of the water that enters the lake. At present the lake measures one-twentieth of the 25,000 square kilometres it used to cover in the 1960s. Twenty million people in the seven countries bordering the lake depend on it for their water supplies.